Richard Spratly

Captain Richard Spratly (1802–1870) was a British sea captain and contributor to navigational records, after whom the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea are named.

Richard Spratly was born on 22 January 1802 in the parish of All Saints, Poplar, East London. His father, Thomas, is described on his birth certificate as a boatbuilder. His mother was Ann née Myers. He was the second of four children (Mary Ann born 25 December 1799), Jane (born 15 December 1812) and William (born 18 March 1815).

1818, 6 June - Spratly first sails as an apprentice on Earl of Marley (possibly Earl Morley, a whaler)
1824, June - Spratly sails as 2nd officer on Marquis of Huntley, a convict ship
1832, 1 September - Convict ship York, with Richard Spratly as captain, sails from Plymouth with 200 convicts on board.
1832, 29 December - Convict ship York', with Richard Spratly as captain, arrives Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
1833, 20 October - Cyrus, under Captain Hingston, arrives Gravesend from the Southern Ocean. Owners were Jarvis and Co.
1834, 5 July - Richard Spratly replaces Hingston as master of Cyrus
1837, 25 October - Cyrus arrives at Portsmouth from South Seas
1838, (unknown) - Cyrus surveyed by Lloyds
1838, June - Cyrus departs on a whaling voyage

In 1840, Richard Spratly was sailing through Manado, on Sulawesi. He became the witness to an attack by a local sultan on Erskine Murray's yacht Young Queen, captained by Captain Hait, and the brig Anne, captained by Captain Lewis. The account was documented in a letter to one Honorable E. Murray and published in the Sydney Shipping Gazette.

According to accounts by the crew, on 24 February 1844, Cyrus anchored at Kema Roads, Celebes, with a valuable cargo of whale oil. The next day the crew went ashore, but returned a few men short. Two men, Heron and Robson, were spotted and told to return but fled after they were confronted only to return later on the 28th. Crew members Howland and Heron went missing on 2 March. Finally on 3 March, after much searching and drunken antics by her crew on the Dutch occupied island, Cyrus sailed away to return to England, but without the missing crew members.

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